


Street Cat - Catradora fic

by kit_astrophe



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternative Universe - College, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-18
Updated: 2021-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-27 05:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30117543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kit_astrophe/pseuds/kit_astrophe
Summary: Imagine SPOP but in college (the UK version of high school kinda) - that’s basically what this is. Angsty, cute and everyone ends up happy. Enjoy!
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Entrapta/Hordak (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Kudos: 10





	1. The Fight

The bus ride to school was always slightly hell-ish. The people on the bus were bad enough, but on top of that the bus itself was absolutely filthy and it always turned up late; no matter where you stood your feet would stick to the floor from the gross residue left there by students years ago, and the five seats in the back (that used to be considered the best seats in the house) were uncomfortably crunchy from god-knows-what. Smoked up windows, mysterious rattling noises from the engine and the vague smell of someone’s cotton candy vape pen made the bus journey overall... miserable. Adora and her flatmates, Glimmer and Bow, had been saving to get a car together for months now just to avoid taking the bus.

Glimmer’s mother paid for their apartment - just bought it outright - but had insisted they paid for any other major things. Adora wouldn’t complain, of course, and even tried to convince her to let them help pay towards the apartment, but she wouldn't allow it. Glimmer’s mother, Angella, had done so much for Adora even before the apartment. She had been an orphan ever since she was a baby, but when Glimmer and Adora first became friends a few years ago at school Angella had decided to adopt Adora out of the foster home to give her a more “normal” life; Adora knew she would never be able to repay her for that. Of course, the foster home wasn’t all bad. It just got quite... lonely. When she was adopted at 15, the only thing that nearly stopped her from leaving was the idea of leaving her only friend there behind. She thought she would understand why she left, though, and so she never really looked back. When she told her she was going to leave they didn't talk again, even up to the day she left. All Adora could do to say goodbye was leave her favourite scrunchie and a note on her friend's pillow, and wave one last time to her shadow in the window as she got into Angella's car. The guilt she felt over leaving was quickly replaced with joy as she sat next to her new sister and gushed over what they were going to do together first when they got home.

Adora glanced over at Glimmer with a smile as she thought back to the first few days after she had moved in. It felt like an extended sleepover (which she'd never had, of course) but way more fun. The first night they spent together, they’d watched Glimmer's favourite film and had a takeaway pizza - it was possibly the best night of Adora's life. Glimmer looked back at her on the bus and smiled too. "What are you thinking about?"

Adora shook her head. "Nothing, just zoning out."

Bow sat on his phone, absentmindedly scrolling through his social media. He flashed his phone screen in the girls’ direction. It showed a picture of a little, bashed-up black Ford Focus car, complete with a mismatched red passenger door. “What do you guys think? We have enough for it already.”

Glimmer shook her head and pushed his phone away. “We’ve been over this, Bow: we can’t buy a car that was in an accident. It’s just bad luck!”

The two began to make their arguments back and forth, neither one of them budging. Their dynamic was funny - they were such good friends and yet they argued all the time. Adora always thought they acted like siblings, but of course telling them that started a debate too. Really, they were the only family Adora had ever known. She knew she could trust them with anything.

When the bus finally pulled up at the school, it was a mad dash to get out of the doors. People pushed and elbowed their way to get out first until, eventually, the crowd that was onboard had dispersed outside. Bow thanked the bus driver as the doors began to close, and watched as the engine slowly revved up and the bus drove away. He turned to the others with a grin. “We should get going, right? Don’t wanna be late!”

Adora and Glimmer walked alongside him as they entered the college. It was decently sized, but not decently decorated. The building's exterior was just poorly painted white bricks, with flat roofs everywhere because it was the cheapest and easiest to fix when it inevitably leaked. Inside was much the same. The walls had dried paint drips everywhere and the windows were misted up all the time, but at least they'd dotted a few fake plants around to liven the place up a bit. The lockers were grey, the walls were white and the doors were black so without that little bit of artificial greenery, the college would be very dull.

The art corridor was the only place that had some life to it. Students' artwork covered the walls and any empty space, filling it with a lot more colour than the rest of the building - which is probably why all of the photos advertising the school were taken there. Glimmer's own artwork covered the section of the wall right next to her classroom. At first, she saw this as a great compliment from her teacher, until she realised that anyone waiting to get into the classroom would pick at and scribble on parts of whatever work was there. She stopped asking for her work to be put up there, now, instead opting to take it home and stick it on her walls where it could be properly appreciated.

The trio all had lessons at the same time, which was lucky as it meant they had all of their free periods together too. Bow studied history, at his parents' request, whereas Adora was an athlete and of course Glimmer studied art. When they thought about it, they really were quite an odd bunch. They headed towards the art classroom together to see Glimmer to her lesson, struggling to navigate the busy corridor by holding hands and travelling in a line. Bow was leading, tugging the other two in between groups of people until eventually, they passed the Horde.

If their college was in a movie, the Horde would be the main group of antagonists in the plot. The group consisted mostly of the kids who’d failed maths or English in their last year of school and had to retake it as a college course. Some of them were actually quite nice, but the majority of them - and definitely the ones seen as the “leaders” - were just mean. Hordak and Catra were the worst of the lot. The pair of them would play horrible pranks on the vulnerable kids, bully people purely for fun and just generally make a mess.

Hordak could be sweet sometimes, tending to show a soft spot for certain people and definitely showing some sort of empathy when it came to the sort of "attacks" he made - he would never joke about someone's rough family life like Catra would.  
Catra had a certain dramatic flair, too. She would tilt her head back with a flick of her hand as she laughed her shrill cackle at whoever her target was that day. Adora had always found her name quite ironic, considering how cat-like she found her to be. Her hair was always scruffy and her nails were viciously sharp - Adora knew from personal experience how much they could hurt. On top of that, her body language and even her facial features were just so feline-esque. Her eyes were a gorgeous amber colour, angled as though she was always giving a cold stare to whoever she looked at, and her body was so...

Adora’s train of thought was cut short by a familiar cackle. She glanced at the Horde as they passed and locked eyes with Catra, who let a sly grin slip across her face as she stuck out her foot in front of Bow’s. He stumbled, yanking on Glimmer’s arm accidentally and dragging them both down to the ground. It all happened so suddenly, but Adora managed to let go of Glimmer’s hand before she fell too. The three all turned to glare at Catra as Glimmer pushed herself up, seething a little.  
“What’s your problem?”

Catra shrugged, grinning. “Guess I just didn’t see you there, shimmer.”

Glimmer groaned at the stupid nickname, rolling her eyes and pushing past Catra, knocking her with her shoulder as she did. Catra immediately reacted, gripping onto her shoulder and digging her nails in a little. She leant down a bit, her lips right next to Glimmer’s ear. “Don’t push me.” She breathed, then pushed against her shoulder, hard.

Glimmer thudded down onto the floor with a yelp. A crowd had started to form around the group, and the Horde began to chant, itching for a fight. Catra circled around Glimmer, looking down at her tauntingly before stepping on her jacket to hold her down.  
“Catra!” The crowd fell silent as the principle cut through them, having witnessed the whole thing. Catra shrunk into herself a little, stepping away from Glimmer. The Horde dissipated away to avoid the trouble as the principle weaselled his way through the crowd to the scene with a stern look. Everyone else watched on, Glimmer glaring up at Catra from the floor with a vindictive smile. “My office, now.”

Catra followed after the principal as he led her to his office, looking like a puppy who'd just been scolded for nipping someone's hand, and Adora helped Glimmer up off of the ground. The rest of the onlookers filtered away with a low murmur of chatter as the final bell signifying the start of lessons sounded, but the trio waited until the door of the office closed behind Catra’s suddenly timid-looking face before facing each other.

”Glimmer, are you okay?” Adora questioned, resting her hand on her arm momentarily. She nodded, sighing.

”I will be. I just need her to get a serious punishment one of these days...” She trailed off as they started to walk towards the art classroom. “You guys need to go, you’ll be late.”

Adora and Bow nodded, giving Glimmer a quick hug before waving and slowly slipping away. They walked in silence for a while, their footsteps echoing in the empty hallway until eventually they stopped outside the history classroom. Bow sighed and rubbed the back of his. “I really don’t want to go in there.”

Nudging him towards the door, Adora smiled. “You’ll be fine! There’s only three hours until lunch, anyway.”

He groaned, taking a step towards the door and mumbling. “That’s three hours too many.”

Bow pushed on the door handle slowly and Adora heard a faint “and why are we late today, Mr Arrows?” before the door clicked shut behind him again. She would be even later than him, she thought. For a moment she considered skipping, but she knew she would be found out and so instead elected to turn up flustered and claim she had to find her missing exercise kit. It was believable enough - she lost things all the time - and it would be no problem seeming flustered after running all the way to the other side of the building for her lesson now. With a heavy sigh, she sped up from a brisk walk to a steady run, holding her bag in place on her shoulder and praying the teacher wouldn’t be too mad by the time she arrived.


	2. The Horde

“What do you think you were doing?” Catra knew the drill with these lectures: head down, hands on your lap, look apologetic. The principal usually fell for it. He seemed to empathise with her home situation somewhat and so he rarely took things further than giving her a detention.

  
“I’m sorry, sir, they tripped by accident and thought I did it. I didn’t mean to start a fight.” She heard the principal sigh and shuffle through some papers.

  
“This is your third time in my office since term started two weeks ago, Catra. I can’t keep hiding this from your mother forever.”

  
Catra looked up at that, processing what he said. “...she isn’t my mother.”

  
The principal nodded, rubbing his forehead slightly. “Yes, of course, sorry - we can’t keep hiding this from Mrs Weaver. I need to see an improvement in behaviour from you or I’ll...”

  
“You’ll what?” Catra prodded, feeling her heart start beating faster. It had been a long time since her adoptive mother had heard about any trouble she’d caused during school, it hadn’t happened since the time Catra had last gotten into a big fight with the rest of the Horde. Shadow Weaver - her “mother” - had been informed by the school as she usually was back then of Catra’s behaviour, then Catra wasn’t seen in school again for a week. When she returned, she had numerous scratches on her arms and legs, as well as what remained of a black eye. The principal understood, then, why Catra was so panicked over them contacting Mrs Weaver. It hadn't happened again since.

  
“I... We’ll have to tell Mrs Weaver. If you can’t stop getting into squabbles and the like, we’ll have no other choice.” Catra leant back in the hard plastic chair she was sat in, defeated. So she either had to deal with her mother, or she had to deal with the Horde if she stopped?

  
“Sir, I don’t-“

  
There was a knock at the door. The principal looked up and smiled, nodding for the person to come in. Whoever it was slipped a note onto his desk and swiftly left the room again, and Catra watched as his face contorted into a troubled frown as he read it.

  
“Sir?”

  
He looked up, seeming taken aback by Catra still sitting in his office, and stood quickly. “Sorry, I need to deal with this. Someone flooded the toilets in the art corridor.”

  
Looking flustered, he fastened his walkie-talkie to his belt and turned it on, rushing to the door. He tugged it open and slipped out, then stuck his head back in for a moment to address Catra. “Oh, uh... You’ll have detention tonight. You know how this goes by now: in the same place as always.” He gave a reaffirming nod and a smile then slipped back out the door again, leaving Catra alone with her thoughts in the room.

  
With the room empty, she finally let herself relax a bit. Her breathing got heavier as she ran a hand through her hair and gripped it tightly, leaning her other arm on her knee. Tears started to well up in her eyes. If Shadow Weaver found out she was in trouble so much, she’d be done for. Ever since that horrible woman adopted her, her home life had been hell. The orphanage was bad, sure, but at least she was physically safe even if she was completely alone since... Since her friend had left. But Shadow Weaver? She wouldn’t let Catra know peace. Every night they argued, every night Catra went to bed hungry unless she’d done everything she was asked to perfectly (which was almost never, in Shadow Weaver’s eyes). If the principal told her about what was happening... Catra couldn’t even imagine how much worse things could get. No one, not even the principal, knew the full extent of the treatment she got from her supposed “mother”.

  
She couldn’t stay in that room any longer. Tears still running down her face, she stood and swung her bag over her shoulder before dashing out of the door. The nearest toilets were just down the next corridor so she wouldn’t have to make it far without being seen.  
Catra practically sprinted around the corner, but of course who else would she bump into other than the Horde? She rubbed her face dry as best as she could and slapped a playful smirk on to try and seem as normal as possible. Scorpia saw her first. “Hey, wildcat! Are you o-“

  
“Hey!” Catra tried to cut her off. Scorpia was the only one who ever seemed to pick up on her emotions, and coincidentally was the only one who would be nice about them so Catra knew she had to stop her from letting the others know she seemed sad.

  
Hordak nudged her with his shoulder, grinning. “So, what did he give you this time?”

  
“Ah, y’know... Just a detention tonight.” The Horde groaned. They all hated that she got off so lightly when the rest of them would have been punished so much more severely.

  
“Lucky. We were gonna sneak out for lunch, you wanna come?” Catra shrugged.

  
“Why not?” She hadn’t eaten yet and knew she wouldn’t get the chance to once she got home, so she kind of had to say yes.

  
The Horde started to head outside, Catra trailing behind a bit. Scorpia fell back to walk in line with her, smiling and poking her arm gently. “You, uh... You don’t seem so good, Catra. Are you alright?”

  
Catra’s face flushed and she looked away, rolling her eyes and swallowing the lump that formed in her throat. “I’m fine, Scorpia.”

  
Silence fell between them for a moment. “You know you can tell me if you’re not, though, right? I won’t tell-“

  
“I said I’m fine!” She snapped, stomping her foot down and facing Scorpia for a moment before muttering. “I’m fine.”

  
With that, Catra rushed to catch up with Hordak and the others. Scorpia watched from the back as they pushed into each other and laughed, frowning. She knew something was up but Catra was impossible to get anything out of, especially in front of the Horde. Scorpia had always felt like Catra wanted to be closer with her but whenever she tried to get there, she was shut down. She knew nothing about her life outside of school or her life before they met, other than the fact she was adopted, and had a feeling that wouldn’t change any time soon.

  
Scorpia had never really intended to become part of the Horde. She failed maths, sure, but only because she really couldn’t understand it. The others just didn’t care enough to learn it but most of them were very capable. Unlike most of the Horde, Scorpia was actually really friendly. She liked to sit and watch the other students at lunch sometimes and imagine what her life would have been like if she hadn’t fallen into the Horde. One girl in particular - Perfuma - always caught her attention. She was an art student who worked mostly with nature, so she would always be playing with flowers and leaves outside. The sun made her skin glow golden brown, and the wind would flutter in her dress. Scorpia had heard from somewhere that she made her clothes herself. Makes sense, she’d thought, only an angel like her could make clothes like that. It occurred to Scorpia, on more than one occasion, that she might actually have a crush on Perfuma. These thoughts were quickly suppressed though. If the Horde ever found out about that... Well, let’s just say she wouldn’t really be part of the group anymore. Catra especially seemed to have something against queer couples, and the rest of the group would follow her lead if any of them came out.

  
It was hard for someone to get close to anyone in the Horde with the number of secrets they all had to hide from each other, honestly. Scorpia knew she wasn’t the only one hiding something. For example, Hordak was always busy on Thursdays after school but would never say why Maybe it was nothing - it could easily just be that he had to babysit his younger brother every week, but the real shady thing was that he never left school. He always “left” the building a bit earlier than the rest so he could sneak around the back; Scorpia only knew this because she’d seen him do it, of course, a few weeks in a row. But he was always extremely careful not to let anyone follow him, so she had no idea where he actually went. It being a Thursday, she knew he would try sneaking off again that afternoon and had planned to try and follow him again. It was easy enough to figure out where he hid until everyone else left, so she would wait for him there at the end of school (obviously hiding too) and follow him from there.

  
The Horde always went to the same place for lunch: a small diner just around the corner called “Hungry Al’s”. Everyone said they went there for the milkshakes, comfy seats and music they played, but the truth was that they served the cheapest food, which is a very important factor for broke students to consider when going anywhere. Everyone slid into their usual seats when they arrived, taking up two tables pushed together. Catra and Hordak obviously sat at the head of the booth, like some kind of school bully "royalty", and the others all squeezed into the rest of the spaces available. Their orders were always the same and, despite what most people would think, they always paid and tipped well (courtesy of Scorpia) so the waiter would place their orders for them the second they arrived. This meant that within minutes their greasy burgers and chips were placed in front of them, and everyone dug in like a pack of Hyenas feasting on their latest hunt.

  
The first time they’d come in, the waiter nearly didn’t let them in at all; it had been storming pretty badly and they all got soaked through to the bone, dripping water on the entry mat while their stomachs grumbled. They seemed like a mess, and the type of mess that didn’t have any money, but they agreed to pay upfront as long as they could sit in the seats by the radiator and the waiter hesitantly agreed. Since then, there had never been a problem.

  
Scorpia was the first to talk. "So what's everyone doing later? Catra, Hordak?"

  
Catra rolled her eyes. "I already told you: I have detention. Like always."

  
Hordak avoided the question by squashing the rest of the burger he was holding in his mouth and shrugging. His fingers were covered in grease which he promptly wiped on his black jeans. Catra glanced down at his lap then turned to face him with a scowl. "Gross."

  
Scorpia sighed and looked down at her plate, pushing one chip around with her fork. She would just have to wait until they left school that afternon to find out what was really going on.


End file.
